Recovery of Endangered Marsupials is Utterly 'Extraordinary'â Population Up 45% Since Australian Bushfires
On the heights of a mountain range just 30 miles west of Sydneyâs Central Business District, the population of a charismatic marsupial was found to be ballooning despite recent fires.
Recorded at 45% higher than before Australiaâs drought-wildfire combo of 2019, it was described as ânothing short of remarkable.â
The greater glider is an arboreal marsupial that can glide the distance of a football field using a long skin membrane that stretches between its arms and legs. With a diet composed exclusively of eucalyptus leaves, a lack of trees means a lack of gliders, and in the Blue Mountains, parts that were only lightly burned are positively full of these animals.
âItâs been fantastic to see greater gliders bounce back to well above pre-fire, pre-drought levels in the best and most lightly burnt habitat,â said Dr. Peter Smith, an experienced glider biologist, and author of the study that included the new population estimates. âBecause of their low reproductive rate, we didnât think that theyâd be capable of making such a strong recovery. The rapid increase in numbers is extraordinary.â
On one night, he and his co-author/wife Judy used powerful flashlights to spot 59 gliders overhead in a single corridor located by the southern edge of the Blue Mountains National Park and near the adjoining Mares Forest National Park and Wombeyan Karst Conservation Reserve.
Gliders are not just vulnerable to logging and wildfires, they carry a mere one joey per year, and so have been assumed to be far more at risk than similar marsupials with greater fecundity.
Other surveys proved less-joyful, though. In some areas where the eucalyptus had not recovered from the 2019 fires, there were no gliders at all. Another way to look at that might be: provided eucalyptus trees can be restored to degraded habitats, gliders can take care of themselves.
MORE AUSTRALIAN CUTIES: Second-Ever Elusive Night Parrot Egg Discovered in Australia Where it Had Been âExtinctâ for 100 Years
âThatâs why the remaining greater glider strongholds are so important,â Dr. Smith told WWF Down Under. âThe forests in Mares Forest National Park and the southern end of Blue Mountains National Park now support exceptional numbers of greater gliders and are vital for the speciesâ recovery in this region.â
As to why this species might have been so much more well-stocked, Smith reckoned it was because of the increased rainfall in recent years, driving more heavy vegetation among the trees this flying possum calls home.
WATCH a video to learn how Australia is helping their glider populationâŠ
SOAR Over To Your Friends Social Media And Let Them Know The Good NewsâŠ